-LRB- Skiing Magazine -RRB- -- Picture this : You 're charging down a course at 80 mph . The world whips by you in a blur .

You catch an edge , smack into a gate and somersault into the safety nets , cracking your neck and shredding a knee . Season ? Done . Olympic dreams ? Over . Career ? Definitely on hold , possibly kaput .

That 's what happened in December to TJ Lanning , one of the U.S. Ski Team 's top racers , during a downhill race at Canada 's Lake Louise . He 's one of many international Alpine competitors sidelined this winter because of season-ending injuries .

Other casualties include 2009 downhill champ Canadian John Kucera and French slalom star Jean-Baptiste Grange .

Addressing the rash of early-season injuries , Aksel Lund Svindval , the 2009 men 's overall World Cup winner , posted the following on his blog in December : `` In two weeks of intense World Cup racing in North America , racers have sustained the following ... 7 torn ACLS , 4 knee ligaments , 1 broken arm , 1 broken leg , 1 broken neck , 1 concussion , 1 dislocated knee , 1 dislocated shoulder . . is this OK ? ''

Sure , ski racing has always been a dangerous sport , but with ever-evolving gear and technologies creating faster and faster competitors , the incidence of injuries has spiked .

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The International Ski Federation -LRB- known as FIS -RRB- , the World Cup governing body , launched the `` Injury Surveillance System '' in 2006 to track facts and figures on injury patterns across all disciplines : Nordic , freestyle and Alpine .

Among Alpine racers , knee injuries are the most common affliction .

As a part of this initiative , in December FIS convened a panel of six top Alpine competitors , including Didier Cuche , Scott Macartney , and Svindal , to drill down on how to make racing safer .

They cited course preparation , improved take-off points for jumps , flat landings and medical procedures as top concerns .

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The athletes also made a plea for redesigned gates , ones that would rip off more easily upon impact . In Lanning 's accident , they say this would have significantly reduced his injuries and their severity .

While competitors want to increase safety , they 're also aware that it 's the danger , blood and guts of their sport that turn fans on , and athletes are wary of ratcheting down the visceral appeal .

When it comes to modifying race procedures , FIS is adamant about using systematic data collection and scientific analysis to make informed decisions .

In January , FIS rolled out a new , three-year scientific study to analyze Alpine racing safety and to make recommendations on how to decrease the number of injuries .

The first phase will collect information through interviews with athletes , coaches and equipment providers , among other experts , to gather suggestions for short-term prevention solutions . Subsequent stages will focus on prevention strategies and rule changes . However , some modifications were deemed urgent enough to institute immediately : smaller jumps and new gates with flags that rip way upon contact .

FIS works closely with the Vancouver Organizing Committee to design the Alpine courses at the Olympics , but ultimately , it 's VANOC that sets them -- save the downhill , which FIS still oversees ; it 's an old , complicated tradition .

With fog rising from Whistler Mountain during the downhill training runs , making visibility next to none , officials were scrambling to re-design the race gates in an effort to make them more visible , switching the flag color from green to red . With this last-minute change , officials on the ground were n't sure if the new , FIS-sanctioned gates would be in place during the Winter Games .

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TJ Lanning among those sidelined by injuries after skiing accidents

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Number of injuries increases as technology improvements allow for higher speeds

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Panel has convened to make racing safer for the athletes

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It 's looking at course preparation , take-off points , redesigned gates and medical procedures